The Element of Hope: The Journey
by shootingstar212
Summary: Born on Earth, Raised in Equestria. This is the story of a young human named Travis. On his 15th birthday, his founder gives him a train ticket to Ponyville for one whole year. Will he fit in? or will he be hated just like in Manehattan? Read to find out. Rated M for: blood, themes, and swearing. P.S: This is not a cliche "Human is Lost Element" story. Trust me, I hate them too
1. Chapter 1: The Only Human in Equestria

Chapter 1: The only human in Equestria

 **Don't worry, this will not be a cliché "human is lost element" story. Trust me, I hate that trope as well.**

My footsteps echo throughout the train station of Manehattan; only a few other ponies are here. They don't even bother to look at me. Could I blame them? My name is Travis Goldheart; I'm sort of the only one of my kind, which you may think is cool, but... it sucks. I'm not really socially accepted among the other ponies, I was home schooled for crying out loud. It could be the fact that I can perform magic without a horn. I could do that for as long as I remember; I once read a book that said "Every pony has a little bit of magic inside of them, some can tap into that magic better than others." That may apply for me, but I'm not a pony. I don't have much magical experience, I can only do an air gust spell.

My founder is the only one who cares for me. He's a 70 year, gold coat unicorn named Pure Goldheart. Without him, I'd probably be dead, but some ponies want it that way.

The brown suitcase I'm carrying in a bit heavy, combined the backpack I'm wearing, this is straining some arm muscles.

I let out a sigh "This will be sore in the morning."

I put one of my hands in my jean pocket; I feel a slip of paper. This is the ticket my Grandpa gave me. I call Goldheart "Grandpa" because he's the only family I have. Yesterday was my 15th birthday, this was his gift to me.

I can hear his words echo in my head " _You told me that you wanted to go see places, so why not where I grew up? Stay there for at least a year for complete satisfaction!_ " I smile.

I reach my destination, the toll booth. The dark blue mare behind the counter looks like she's gonna fall asleep on the job. I hand over the ticket without making any eye contact. She'd just insult me anyways. I feel her giving me the stink eye while I'm walking to the open doors to the train.

I place my luggage next to the closest seat on my left, and lean up against the safety pole next to me. The train is going to leave in probably a minute; I'm the only passenger on the train. I can hear a faint noise coming from the PA system, it's a radio broadcast about the "Elements of Harmony."

"Must feel good to have friends." I think.

The doors shut, and the train starts moving. My unzipped hoody and headphones start to sway. I reach over to the right side of my pants to turn on my portable cassette player, my favourite song "Burn my Dread" is already in it. I cover my ears with the cushion like material that my headphones have; and look out of the window at the night sky. The bright lights of the train are a bit distracting to be honest.

I can't help but to think about what happened last night...

 _I was laying down on my bed trying to go to sleep, but Grandpa came into my room. "Travis?" he asked. "Are you awake?"_

 _I let out a yawn whilst stretching "Yeah."_

 _"I think you're mature, and old enough to know this." his horn glows his trademark golden glow; successfully illuminating the room, to bring over an envelope. I take it from the air, and open it casually. The envelope is packed with a folded up piece of paper, a rusted ring, and a picture._

" _What's all this for, Grampa?" I ask taking out the first item._

" _Just…. Read it yourself…" My old man falls silent, he can't even look at me. I unfold the piece of tattered paper; making sure not to rip it in the process, and scan over the words written in a blue ink._

" _Dear to whoever finds this._

 _Look after our child his name is 'Travis'. At the moment he is 16 months old. When he's old enough tell him about us, we love you Travis._

 _From you parents: Maron and Justin." Over a million questions pop into my head at this moment, but the more I think, the angrier I get._

" _How long have you had this?" I ask gripping the paper in my hand tighter every second._

" _Pardon me?" Grampa didn't quite hear the question._

" _How long have you had this!?" I raise my voice, whist holding up the piece of paper. I feel tears starting to form in my eyes, as I get choked up. He doesn't say anything, all Grandpa does is look down in shame. "I've been looking for answers for my whole life. You, my own Grandfather, didn't even tell me this!" Tears began rolling down my eyes._

" _I didn't think you were ready!" Goldheart's voice rose. This shocked me a bit, I'm so used to hearing him quitter. "You know I care about you. I just don't want you to get hurt." I'm slowly regretting the things I said to grandpa. I use my hand to push my black hair to the left side of my face._

" _I'm… sorry. I can't think straight at the moment." My hot face cools down to a regular temperature._

" _I know you are, I can only imagine how you're feeling right now." Grandpa walks up to me, stands on his hind hooves, and gives me a hug. The warmth of his fur reminds me of the other times I've needed to be calmed down._

I snap back into reality when I almost fall over; but luckily catching the pole behind me. "Reminder, don't do that again." I say out loud. My headphones fell off in the process. Nopony else is on the train, I don't really care anyways. I regain balance as soon as the sliding doors open up; time to see my new home. I grab my things, and make my way out of the train. The echoes of the metal train floor turns into the familiar clapping noise of hollow wood. I cross my arms, and shift my weight as I get a good look at this desolate town. " _I guess no one's out after dark._ "

I pick my suitcase back up, and open the note I have in my pocket. I scan over the ink quickly, which is hard to do at this time of night, to find out that the house I need to get to is just outside of the town. I place the note back into my pocket, and place my headphones on to my ears. I couldn't hear the train leave behind me, as I step off of the platform. The music is blaring into my ears.

(In case you're wondering it's this song: watch?v=VpNhxUIMXug)

Before I know it, I'm outside of the town. I'm currently following a dirt path, looks like an old shack is just off of the path. That must be the place. I pick up my walking pace, as my arms are getting very tired from my day. I reach my destination; almost immediately dropping my things from exhaustion. Unzipping the middle pouch of my backpack, I fish around for the house key for a bit. I pull out a silver, rusted key. Unlocking the door is a bit difficult; probably because the lock hasn't been oiled for years.

I open the door just to be hit with a wave of dust, and cobwebs. "Ew, I think it got in my mouth!" I spit rapidly, trying to clear my mouth of the webs that are older than me. The main floor seems run down. Chipped wood, and paint are the most unappealing part. There's a lot of dust as well, nothing a little bit of spring cleaning can fix. But before I do that, I need some sleep. I let out a yawn. I don't bother to bring my things upstairs because I just want to sleep. I open the first door i see in the hallway to find a bathroom.

" _Not what I wanted_." I think. I continue down the hall, it's hard to see because of the darkness. the floorboards creek with every step I take; almost like I'm in a horror movie. With a little bit of feeling around, I find another door. Opening it up reveals a room. There's a night stand, next to a king sized bed. On top of the night stand lays a lamp. The nice green drapes covers the windows, also a good sized dresser. "This ought to do for the night." I collapse on the bed, and stare up at the ceiling. "I'll have to tidy the place tomorrow." I let out a sigh, "this will be my new home for one whole year. I hope it'll be a good one" I gradually close my eyes; and with that, I'm out cold...

 **I Just needed to make a few adjustments to this first chapter before I release the seconded one. Stay tuned!**


	2. Chapter 2: A Not So Peaceful Night

Chapter 2: A Not So Peaceful Night

 **Twilight Sparkle's Library**

The lights are dimmed, just enough so that Twilights assistant will actually get some sleep. The mare has been up all night trying to perfect the newest potion in her "Chemists for the Advanced" book, which she received last Christmas from Spike. She hasn't finished much of the book, only on chapter 6. Most of these potions are just tricks for kids. Making them feel smart for figuring out chemical reactions for the first time. But, Twilight didn't have anything better to do that night.

Twilight looks over to the couch close to her, to find her friend, Rainbow Dash, sound asleep. Twilight giggles a bit "I thought you wanted to see the colours, Rainbow Dash?" Rainbow stirs a bit, her ear twitching a little.

"I'm awake, Twilight…. Don't worry…" Rainbow says with a yawn, and readjusting her position to get more comfortable.

"It would help if your eyes were open." Twilight replies as her horn starts to glow. Her violet magic wraps around a vile filled with a mysterious green goop. It was some left overs she had from an invisibility potion she developed for Princess Celestia, as a project. Twilight uses her magic to lift up the vile and ever so slightly tilts it over the boiling caldron on her work table. A small droplet sinks its way into the bubbling blue liquid. Twilight uses her free hoof to stir the goop with a wooden rod. "Hey, Rainbow Dash. Come and look at this." Twilight invites her friend to see the "Magic" happen.

Rainbow Dash, slumps off the couch, her eyes half lidded. Rainbow looks inside the pot with boredom at first, which turns into interest as the bubbling liquid turns into a purple colour. "Wow…. That was kind of disappointing." Rainbow says to Twilight, not taking her eyes off of the caldron.

Twilight sighs, "I told you that this wasn't as interesting as you'd think."

Rainbow Dash turns her head up, and a bit to the left. Trying to look at the old library clock, to check out the time. She squints her eyes to try to make out the time, through the dark lighting.

"12:30 AM." Rainbow mutters out loud.

Her ears perk a bit, as she sees something unusual. It's a pair of teal eyes, no pupils too. Just… Staring at her. Rainbow Gasps! She can recognize those eyes anywhere! Her eyes widen!

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash alerts, "It's a Changeling spy!"

Twilight whips her body around to investigate! She sees a bug like tail leave the window as fast as it can.

Without thinking, Rainbow Dash speeds out of the door to catch the spy! Blowing loose paper everywhere from the mighty wing flap!

It takes Twilight a second to realize what exactly is going on.

"Oh no. this was supposed to be a relaxing night!" Twilight runs out of the door, slamming it shut behind her with her magic.

 **Up in the skies**

Rainbow Dash is hot on the trail of the Changeling. It's easy for he, considering she's the fastest flier in Equestia. The Changeling spy tries to do advanced banks, and loops to throw off its follower, but that doesn't last at all. Rainbow Dash slams into the Changeling at full force! Wrapping her hoofs around its waist, so it can't escape. The Changeling thrashes around in Rainbow's grasp, flailing its fore hooves and legs around. It's trying to hit Rainbow off of it.

The two begin to spiral down towards an old house, just outside of the town!

 **Travis's House**

 _I'm walking in a forest, I assume it's the Everfree forest. I really don't like this place. It's dark, hot, somehow really wet, but worst of all, you're not sure if you're gonna make it out alive. I've been told by my Grandpa to stay out of here, I don't know why I'm here to begin with. I have my hands in my pocket. I begin to whistle the tune of my favourite song, to bring good luck._

" _Dreamless dorm, ticking clock. I walk away, from the soundless room." I start to sing under my breath._

 _I look at my surroundings as I walk past them. There are small yellow eyes staring at me through the bushes. I look forward and see two shadowy figures in the distance. The difference is, they're…. my species? One of them looked like it had longer hair than the other._

" _No way…" is all I can say at this point._

" _Traaaaaviiisss." A woman's voice begins, "Come home, Travis…" the voice is soothing and relaxes me._

" _We miss you a lot… your mom and I." a man's voice follows up._

" _Mom? And Dad?" I ask a little chocked up._

" _Come here, Hunny." My mother says._

 _I take steps forward. But, I feel something wrap around my ankle. I look down in confusion to see a branch is straining me. I try stepping forward with my free leg, sticking out my hand, trying to get help._

 _Another branch wraps around my arm that's sticking out! Pulling it back!_

 _More and more wrap around my body!_

 _I don't know what to do!_

 _What is there to do?_

 _I'm getting pulled back into the forest._

" _NO! Please, don't do this!" I yell. Tears forming in my eyes. The tears are coming down at a fast rate, as I get pulled back into the forest!_

" _Mom! Dad! HELP ME!" I yell to my parents in the distance._

 _They both turn their backs, and begin to walk away._

 _I fall on my back!_

 _Trying to break free of the branches grasp._

 _I'm getting pulled into the darkness of the forest!_

 _I scream if fear, as I get pulled inside!_

 _I'm alone… again…_

 **THUD**

I feel the house rumble and shake, as I wake up from that horrible nightmare.

"What the hell?" I say tiredly, while rubbing my head with a hand.

I'm on the ground currently. It must have happened during my sleep. But, falling off my bed couldn't have shaken the whole house? I stand up, and leave the room, hopefully I have a deck. I run down the hallway, looking for a sign of one. I see a double door made out of glass. Opening it up to investigate what made that noise.

 **Outside of the House**

Rainbow Dash and the Changeling crash into the grass, after slamming into the roof of the building close by. The two are surrounded by the shingles of the roof. Rainbow Dash tries to stand up, but is struggling. She took the fall the hardest.

"D-Damn…" Rainbow Dash winces in pain while trying to stand up. Nothing is broken, but was in pain.

"Oh no… Poor girl." The Changeling mocks, standing up perfectly fine. The Changeling starts to walk into the Everfree forest, a smirk of victory on his face.

"Fight me!" Rainbow Dash yells in anger.

The Changelings laughs, "Do you want to die now?" he whistles out a tune. This is the signal for his partners to emerge from the shadows. Both of them look the same, including the blood thirsty look in their eyes.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight shouts from a distance, running to her injured friend. "Stay behind me! I'll take care of these guys!" Twilight's horn begins to glow a sharp, purple colour. _"Looks like I'm on the defensive this time."_ Twilight thinks, making sure she knows where the attackers are.

 **On the Deck**

I squint my eyes, trying to figure out what's going on in the distance. All I can see is green lights hitting a purple shield. Every time the shield is hit, a flash of white light goes off, laminating all the way up to my house.

"What the hell is going on over there?" I say quietly.

I cant really make out on who's getting attacked. But I think I should help them. I grip the railing in front of me, preparing to hop off.

"But… would they do the same for me?" I say aloud.

I would most likely just be left alone again.

No one likes me…

Why should I help them?

They'd NEVER help me!

I have no one looking out for me!

No one but… Grandpa…

My grip is so tight on the metal railing, that my hands are turning red. I loosen my grip slowly, and look back at the door into my house. I can just walk away, and pretend that I saw nothing.

I turn around, and slowly walk inside my house, placing my hands in my pocket. That's when…. A feeling of guilt washes over me, like a storm.

"I was raised better than this…" I say looking at the ground, "If I'm gonna live on my own. I have to take up responsibilities. It's what Grandpa would want." I look up, and turn around to face the open door to the deck.

My face is now filled with determination, as I begin to run full speed outside! I leap from the deck. Using my hands to assist me getting over the handle bars! The wind of the fall pushes my hair up, over my head. I bend my legs as I land, and fall forward. I use my hands to recover before I face plant, just to continue my sprint to the pony in peril.

As I get closer, I see who the attackers are. They're the disgusting, bug like, Changelings that I've read about in "Equestria Monsters: Fast Facts." They're attacking by using green fire spells. Shooting like them one after another.

The pony who's being attacked is definitely a Unicorn. It's…. Twilight Sparkle? I look of confusion washes over my face, while closing in on the battle. The Element of Magic herself? I don't believe it! She's protecting, The Element of Loyalty: Rainbow Dash. Why would they be out here at this hour? It must be very important.

Twilight is now starting to struggle as her shield is getting blasted at a rapid rate. She has a look on her face that can be described as anger, and concentration. She doesn't have a way out without dropping the shield, but that would risk her friend getting hurt. Speaking of which, Rainbow Dash looks pretty battered. She's surrounded by shingles… from a roof…. I think that's my roof shingles. That was the noise I heard earlier.

Time to bring out the big guns. I close my eyes while running forward. Focusing on my core, letting out deep breaths.

I feel my energy surging through my body!

A feeling I haven't felt in a long time!

I've activated my magic for the first time in about a year!

I open my eyes. The warm, teal colour has surrounded my hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I see both, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow dash looking right at me with confusion.

Time slows down, as I look at Twilight. Her eyebrow is raised, I'm not sure what's more surprising to her? The fact that she's seeing me for the first time in her life? Or, that she's seeing a non-Unicorn using magic.

I quickly hop from the ground, raising my legs to my chest, folding my arms across my chest, and shoving them behind me as fast as possible. I feel the magic induced air gust spell exit my palms, sending me hurdling to the enemy in front of me. Its head turns to me for a split second, his mouth forming these words "What the Fu-"The Changeling interrupted by my body slamming into it!

I topple on top of the Changeling, and we roll for a distance. My face is in the dirt, I look over at my victim to see that it's knocked out.

"What the hell was that?" I hear a man like voice cry out.

I raise my hand to my head, to make sure that I'm not bleeding. I look forward to be greeted by a horn. It's shining green, and not too far ahead. I realize that it's trying to attack me! I place both my hands to the ground, and fire off a quick air gust spell! I get rocketed up a couple of feet. But, I see a green energy ball fly right past where I was. I look at the Changeling that fired off the attack with anger. But a purple energy blast sends it flying before the Changeling could respond. Twilight… was helping me?

I land on my feet, and look for the last Changeling. I see it retreat into the Everfree forest, using its wings. Going really fast I might add.

"That's right! Get out of here! No one messes with the Elements of Harmony!" I celebrate with myself.

I look over at Twilight Sparkle with a smile. She isn't smiling back, to say the least. Her jaw is wide open, as well as her eyes.

"Um… hi." I say rather shyly, waving at her with my left hand, only a little bit. My magic aura fades away, since we're no longer in danger.

"Y-You're… And you can…" She's having trouble finding the right words to use.

"Is your friend alright?" I ask in a bit of a concerned voice. Looking behind Twilight, I see a very…. Angry Rainbow Dash.

"You…" She stands up, wobbling a bit. "You IDIOT!" she yells at me. I flinch back, she's rather hash. "You let it get away!"

"Rainbow Dash!" A shocked Twilight Sparkle responds. I hardly notice it. But, I'm taking steps back.

I turn around and run away, from this fight that has broken out.

"He just saved out lives!" I hardly hear Twilight say.

"He's a freak, Twilight!" I faintly hear the response from Rainbow dash.

I wipe the tears forming in my eyes while running back to my home.

Things were supposed to be different here!

This can't be happening all over again.

I can't go through this again.

I use the air gust spell to hop onto my deck, run inside, shut the door, and lock it…


	3. Chapter 3: Formal Introductions

The birds chirping noise can be heard outside of my window. my eyes slowly open up, to be greeted with sunlight flushing into my room. I let out a groan.

"Ow... Everything hurts..." I complain to myself. well, it is my fault after all. Slamming yourself into a Changeling at full force can do that to you. I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling.

"That was the first fight I've ever been in. I'm not sure whether my Grandpa would be pissed, or would be proud." I say aloud. One thing's for certain, I know that people still hate me in this town. I place my hands over my face and exhale loudly.

"I can't believe this. I risk my life, and get scolded in return. Rainbow Dash called me a freak..." I sit up on my bed slowly. my arms and legs are extremely sore. I should lay off of doing anything taxing for a while, I don't want to actually hurt myself.

I get off of my bed, and walk outside of the bedroom I slept in. I finally get to see a clearer version of the establishment. The dark brown planks of wood for the floor creak with every step I take. Paint that used to be beige, is pealing off the wall. This place is a dusty mess.

I use my finger to swipe some dust off of a counter surface. "The last thing I wanted to do today, was clean a house." I groan in disappointment.

my stomach lets out a grumble. That reminds me. What time is it anyway? I walk downstairs with the goal in mind of finding my backpack. If i remember correctly, I left my pocket watch inside one of the front pouches. The bag is exactly where I left it. There's a new addition though. Cobwebs. "I really dislike spiders..." I grab my bag from the mess of webbing, and wipe it off with my sleeve. I've never liked spiders, ever since I was a kid. I remember being scared out of my mind when my Grandpa was watching a movie about a giant spider attacking the ponies of a fictional village. My Grandpa tried to convince me it was just all made up, but I never believed him when I was younger. Some of the webbing gets stuck to my hand. I quickly wipe it off on the closest wall.

"Ew, Ew, Ewww!" I'm not paying attention to where I'm wiping my hand. But I feel another sticky substance touching me. I take a look at the wall, and notice that there are even more spiderwebs on this wall.

"Oh my... You've got to be kidding me?" I'm more annoyed than grossed out now. I remove my hand from the wall and just go with the easy solution, wipe the webs on my clothes. I need to get changed anyway. I open up the front pouch of my bag, and look for my watch. It takes a couple of minutes, but I feel the familiar circle shape. I pull the bronze watch out by the chain link. It's one that's meant to be worn around the neck. I flip the watch open to be greeted by the picture of my Grandpa and me together. We were out at the park that day, that's a day that I'll always cherish. There was no harassment, insults, or anything negative. It was just me and him. That may be the reason why it was so special, I was with my family. I let out a side smile while looking at the image, then I take a look at the Roman numeral clock that is on the right side.

"11:45?" I say to myself surprised. I never sleep this long. It seems like I'm going to be skipping breakfast.

I look through all of the doors, cabinets, and closets in the house. Well. I can confirm, that there is absolutely no food in this house. What should I expect? Grandpa hasn't lived here in over 15 years. From what I remember, I don't have too much money on me... I may have to get a job. It's going to be difficult, who in Equestria would hire me to do anything? that would probably just disgrace the image of the Pony. I'm so lost in thought, that I didn't hear the hoof knocking on my door. I snap back into reality, and I hear a voice call out to me. It sounds familiar.

"Excuse me? I know you're home. It's Twilight Sparkle. You know, from last night?" Twilight Sparkle? Why would she come to visit me? I lean up against the door and listen to what she has to say. I don't want to open the door for someone who's going to be rude. "I'm sorry about my friend. She was just a little freaked out by you. don't worry, I just want to talk for a bit." I lift my head up at that. Why would she want to? I mean, I did help out. Maybe it's just a Thank You?

I unlock the door, and slowly open it. Peaking my head out to just make sure she's alone. Twilight Sparkle is standing outside of the door. Her bright purple coat is eye catching to say the least. Her eyes share the same colour, if a bit darker. A dark purple mane with a magenta stripe going across it horizontally. She has a friendly smile, wide eyed, and overall friendly looking. Her mane is properly brushed, almost like she's been up for a while. I assume someone like her would be awake early in the morning.

"Good morning!" She greets, "Or, should I say afternoon? because it's almost noon." she corrects herself. My blank expression doesn't change. "Not much of a talker, are you?" She cocks her head. I'm at a lost for words, I'm not sure how I should greet her back. should I be polite? or cool sounding?

"I-I, umm... I'm not too good around people I don't know." I stammer out. I'm pretty sure that this is extremely awkward for her as well.

"Oh really? Have I been too forward? I'm extremely sorry!" Twilight quickly apologizes to me.

"No! I- I mean. It's fine. I'm just a little confused at the moment." I try to convince her that she did nothing wrong.

"Confused at what?"

"Well, I'm just not used to having Ponies come up to my door. Considering..." I open the door all the way, and take a step back. I let Twilight take a good look at me. How I stand up on two legs, Have claw like hands, but they aren't pointed. How I have to wear clothes all the time. I see Twilight Sparkle study me with her eyes. Taking down mental notes, attempting to remember every detail about me.

"Amazing..." Twilight says somewhat quietly. she starts to take steps into my house. "I mean. I've heard stories about how you look. How different you are from everypony in Equestria. I've always wanted to see what you look like in person. Here you are, right in front of me." She sticks a hoof out, and pokes my hand. trying to feel the flesh on me. "Your claws. They feel soft, and warm..." I let out a fake cough. This causes Twilight to recoil with a blush on her face, "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I got a little distracted" her eyes dart around.

I let out a little chuckle, "It's perfectly fine." I scratch the back of my head. Twilight starts to sniffle, then lets out a little sneeze.

Twilight looks around the room and notices how dirty, and dusty it is, "Quite the place you got here."

"Yeahhhh... I just moved in last night. I haven't had the chance to clean yet." I respond while looking around with her.

"You moved here?" She asks looking back at me.

"Yeah, just for the year. This used to be my Grandpa's place."

"Grandpa? There's more than just you in Equestria?" Twilight sounds excited

I laugh, "No, don't get the wrong idea. It's my rescuer's house. I just call him Grandpa because he's my family"

Twilight raises an eyebrow, "Well... If you dont mind me asking? What happened to your real family."

This topic brings up bad memories of not having a real family. Never knowing my parents, or even seeing them I look away from Twilight, and place my hands on the table nearby. Looking down at the flat surface.

"I-I never knew my real family. All that I know is that I was found in the Everfree forest, when I was a baby. That's probably why everypony hates me. Because I'm a wild creature found in the most dangerous place in Equestria. How can I be treated like a real pony if I'm considered dangerous? The only pony nice to me, is my rescuer. He adopted me, raised me like his own. He never saw a freak, but a baby that needed a home." I decide to not bring up the note that I was informed about on my birthday. I might start to tear up if I do. "The only thing I do know about my old life, is my name. Travis..." I quiet down. I can't think of anything else to say. I hear the sounds of hoof steps approach me. I turn to face them, and see an extended hoof.

"Well, Travis. My name is Twilight Sparkle, It's a pleasure to meet you." Her warm smile catches me off guard. Twilight is offering her hoof out to me.

I look down at her hoof, then up to her face. she has a genuine look of kindness on her face. A smile grows on my face. I take her hoof in my hand, and shake it. "It's nice to meet you too."

My stomach let's out another grumble. Twilight giggles at the noise, "Someone is hungry." Twilight is still laughing.

I chuckle at her remark. "well, I've not been up long. I was going to buy some food before I cleaned the house."

Twilight's ears perked up, "Oh, I can take you out!" She offers almost immediately.

"You don't have to, It's okay." I try to reassure her.

"Nonsense, you helped Rainbow Dash and me last night. If you didn't show up. who know's what would have happened?" Twilight is very determined about taking me out for lunch as a thank you.

"Well, if you really think that's gonna make us even. Then, yes." I agree to going out with her.

"Trust me, Travis. You're gonna have a great time." Twilight trots her way out of my house. I leave with her, taking my bag with me. I make sure to shut and lock the door on the way out.

We walk along the path into Ponyville. It's just a basic dirt path. The colour is a bright brown, and the crunching noise the path makes while we step on it is satisfying. On the way, we talk about random things, such as books, and movies. Twilight then brings up the topic of magic.

"Travis, I was too amazed last night to ask you this before, but. How exactly are you able to perform magic? You're not a unicorn, as far as I'm aware." Twilight does have an interesting question. But, I don't necessarily have the answer.

"That's actually a really good question, Twilight. I'm not exactly sure why I'm able to perform magic. My hands seem to function the same way as a horn when I do use magic. I don't know any spells outside of the one that shoots the gust of air out of my hand. I believe that it's because we all have a little bit of magic inside of us. But, You and I are able to harness that magic, and manipulate it." I give Twilight the best answer I got for the question.

Twilight thinks for a moment, "Well, since you can perform magic... Maybe you have the capability of learning new spells?"

"New spells? That sounds like something Grandpa would be proud of me for learning. He's also a Unicorn after all. I've just never learned any spells in my life."

"But, the magic from last night? How were you able to do that?" Twilight has look of interest and confusion on her face.

"I never really gave it any thought, if I'm being honest. It's just something I could do since I first used my magic ability."

"Interesting... There's something I'll have to look into then, later..." Twilight is getting lost in thought.

"The point stands, I'm not sure if it's going to be hard or not." I adjust the straps on my shoulders, and place my hands in my pocket.

"It's going to be hard at first, but you'll get the hang of it! I can even help you learn!" Twilight offers.

I think about the offer for a second. This could be an opportunity for some great things. The Element of Magic herself, is offering to train me. "Just a quick question. Why are you being so nice to me? I haven't done anything that good for you." Twilight turns her head to me, and looks me in the eyes.

"I don't mean to beat the topic in. But you helped me last night. I saw how Rainbow Dash treated you just for being there, It made me feel a little sorry for you. So, I want to get to know you a bit better." I'm taken aback. Twilight Sparkle really just wants to get to know me better? "And if it's alright with you..." I raise an eyebrow at her, "Can we go back to my place after. I really want to take notes on you." Wait what?

"Why do you want to do that?"

"There's no information written down on you that seems factual. I really want to have some sort of encyclopedia on your species." Twilight looks away from me when she asks that. She might be thinking she's asking too much. I think I should get on her good side if I want this to continue, she might be just using me anyway.

"Yeah, that's fine." Twilight's ears perk up, "I was looking for a reason to stay out of the house today anyways. The last thing I want to do is go back to that dusty hole."

"Thank you very much!" Twilight smiles. This could be a good way to check out the town too. I really need to know my surroundings if I'm going to be living around this area.

We continue down to the front of the town, and I stop. Looking up at the entrance. "Travis? Is there something wrong?" Twilight asks me. stopping in place herself.

"I mean... I'm not sure if I should yet..." I start to take some steps back.

Twilight looks at me with a concerned look in her eyes. "Travis, It'll be okay. Don't let some old experience bring you down. If the other Ponies see you with me, I'm sure they'll get the message that you're not dangerous."

"I guess... But, they won't like me still." I cross my arms and look down. Twilight walks in front of me, and looks up into my face

"Friendship takes time, Travis. You can't just rush through it. Not everyone is going to like you right away, you have to prove that you're someone worth liking." Twilight gives me a smile. "From what I've seen of you so far, You're a nice Pon- I mean. Person. That's what matters most. just ignore the Ponies that hate you for no reason. Let's enjoy our afternoon out."

I inhale, and exhale. An attempt of getting rid of the anxiety I built up, "So... Where do you want to eat?" I ask Twilight with a smirk. She smiles back.

"Anywhere you want."

"Know any good soup places?" I ask. Twilight has to think for a second.

"There's one by my house. It's pretty good. They use different varieties of spices to add some extra flavour." She suggests,

"Why not?" I say. We walk into town with the destination in mind. Hopefully this doesn't go down in flames...


	4. Chapter 4: About Last Night

You know the old saying, "The first step is always the hardest?" That's something that doesn't even come close to the feeling I have trying to walk through the small town of Ponyville. I'm trying to not look around too much, just keeping myself almost glued to Twilight. Every step seems harder than the last. This may not have been the greatest idea. Gossip is ringing all around me. If this affects Twilight's reputation, I'll feel really guilty about it tonight. I lean over to Twilight and whisper into her ear.

"Umm... how much further do we have to go before we reach the restaurant?" My quiet voice makes her ear twitch a little.

Twilight turns her head a bit to see me in her peripheral vision, "Not too far now, Travis. Just a few minutes." her reassuring voice calms me down just a bit. I can feel the stares of the judgmental population on me. As much as I want to bail out of this plan and cower in my room, I just can't let down my one and only friend on our first outing.

Social anxiety is getting to me, my breathing is starting to get heavier. My palms are sweating, though that could just be from the heat along with my hands in my pocket.

"We're here!" Twilight's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I look at the building in front of me. This is a pretty small establishment, decorations covering the door. Trying to send happy moods to customers I assume. There are some seats with tables outside of the windows on the left side, customers are enjoying their meals. Some of them are taking glances at me, and whispering to their partners. The ones that are alone are too enveloped in their books.

"Ponyville Soups and Sandwiches?" I read the sign aloud, adjusting my posture to get a better look at the place.

Twilight gave me a smile with her eyes closed "I hope this is okay?" She asks me.

"This'll be perfect." I nod at her. Twilight uses her magic to open the door, and we both walk inside. I need to duck down to avoid hitting my head on the door.

The front worker turns around, most likely because of the sound of the ringer attached to the top of the door. The beige mare greets, "Good afternoon! How may I H-Hmmm?" The worker stops mid greeting when she notices that I'm in her store. She staring right at me, and notices that I'm with Twilight. "Oh.. um, Ma'am... Is that with you... " I look away from the worker because of the rude remark, I shove my hands in my pockets as it's the sort of thing I do when I'm upset. Like, come on? I'm standing right there...

I hear Twilight speak up to the worker. "My friend here just moved into a house outside of town. I owe him a favour, so I wanted to take him out for the day."

The mare clears her throat before announcing "Very well then. Please follow me to your table!" The tone that was spoken was clearly forced. Either that, or I'm just paranoid. We are guided to a seat around the back area. The window view that's next to our table let me have a good view of Ponyville. I look around the area from where I'm sitting, taking in the surroundings. I see Ponies doing everyday things such as working at stands, or out with their families.

"Wow. This place sure is peaceful." I say to Twilight, without looking away from the window.

"That reminds me, Travis. How long are you planning on staying here?" Twilight asks. I think about that question for a second. Placing my hand under my chin, and resting my elbow on the table.

"Well. Starting today, I should be staying here for a year. I've always wanted to travel when I was younger, give myself a fresh start. And so far... It's been pretty much the same as back home." I look at my fingers on the table, tracing them around in circles across the wood.

Twilight looks at me with a sad expression, "You really didn't have any friends back at home, huh... Well, to be honest. I was in the same boat"

This catches my interest, "What do you mean by that?" I readjust my position in my seat, crossing one leg over the other, and clasping my hands on the table.

"Before I came to Ponyville, I was just a shut in. Only focusing on my studies, trying to perfect any kind of magic I could. As a result, I didn't get out too much. I would never take any opportunities I would get to go out with anypony. But that all changed when Princess Celestia sent me here. It's how I met my best friends in the whole wide world. I would do anything for them. That's why Ponyville will always hold a special place in my heart!" Twilight finishes her story and is back to being incredibly happy. "There's something special about Ponyville that just let's everypony get along with each other." Twilight smiles at me, "That's probably why we came across each other this fast."

Images of last night flash through my mind. But... why were they after the Changeling anyway. It can't be just because it was in town, there has to be more to it than that.

I lean into Twilight's ear at an almost whisper, "Speaking of last night, what was that Changeling situation about?" her ear twitches at the vibrations.

"If I'm honest, I'm not sure why that one was in town. All I can think of is that it was a spy, but we couldn't stop it from getting away."

No... I couldn't stop it from getting away... I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I let that thing get away with it's partners. I hope It didn't have any important info with it, or I'll feel TWICE as guilty for affecting Twilight's reputation.

"What are we gonna do?" I ask.

"Travis, if anything bad happens you can count on the Elements of harmony to take care of the problem. You don't need to worry about it." Twilight is trying to assure me that everything will be alright. But it's still my fault for that.

Our waitress comes around, and we place our orders. after waiting for a bit, we get our food and start to eat. It was subpar at best, but oh well. It was still out of the kindness of a ponies heart that I'm eating out to begin with. But there's still an uneasy feeling washing over me, like I'm being watched.

"Hey, Travis. I actually wanted to take some notes on you when we're finished eating. Only if that's okay with you that is?" Twilight makes this adorable face at me, how in Equestria can I say no to that.

"Yeah, sure." I reply "It's a way I can say thanks for taking me out."

Twilight giggles, "The reason why I took you out was because I wanted to say thanks for helping last night." I chuckle a bit at that remark.

"So where do you live around here?"

"Actually, I was assigned to live in the Library around the center of town. Princess Celestia wanted me to have a place that I would enjoy living in. What better place than to be surrounded by endless books!" Twilight goes on about how much her house fits her needs of living. In fact, I'm getting a little excited to see the place myself. Maybe I'll be able to check out a novel while I'm over, just to read whenever I have nothing else to do with my days. Twilight pays the bill and we make our way out of the establishment. The journey to the Library is pleasant, we make small talk, and I begin to feel more comfortable being around this town. Not to say that I'm welcomed by any means, just that I feel better walking around.

"Well, Travis. This is it!" Twilight excitedly steps aside to reveal a massive tree in the middle of town. the tree seems to be hollowed out, having it's own balcony and windows. I see a telescope set up on the balcony, with notes plastered all over the place. different charts are also stood up there. The doorway into the tree is a little small for me, so I crouch a little to enter. My eyes widen at the sight of all the books neatly organized along the multiple shelves wrapping around the room. There are different genres all labeled on each shelf, from fictional stories, to study guides.

"Wow..." is all I'm able to say while taking in all of my surroundings. "This is so cool!" I happily exclaim.

Twilight's face lights up, "You really think so? Rainbow Dash makes fun of me for reading all the time."

The mention of Rainbow Dash gets me a little agitated, "What does she know?" I say back in a half joking way. "You get to read whatever you want here? I'm actually kind of jealous." I see Twilight's face light up a bright pink.

"It's not _that_ impressive" Twilight giggles. I laugh along with her. Faint steps are echoing from upstairs. A voice calls down from upstairs.

"Twilight, is someone over? why didn't you give me a warning." The voice sounds a little crackly, like it's from a young colt.

I look over at Twilight "I didn't know you had a little brother."

Twilight laughs in response "No! That's not my brother." I look upstairs to see something I would've never expected to find in a Library of all places. A small dragon. It's purple scales are the same shade as Twilight's fur. A green fluff of hair rests on it's head. And it has bright emerald eyes.

"Holy Crap!" that's all I'm able to spit out, this is the coolest thing ever. I've always wanted to see a dragon up close, it's a little smaller than expected though...

The little dragon is shocked while staring at me. "T-Twilight, is that? That's that!" The dragon is tumbling over it's own words.

Twilight answers the dragon's question, "Yes, Spike. This is Travis, he's moved into a house outside of Ponyville for the year, so I wanted to make him feel welcomed"

Spike is smiling with glee, that's strange. Why would he be happy to see something like me? Spike runs down the stairs, tripping over the last step, but quickly stands back up.

"Umm... Are you okay?" I ask with concern in my voice.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Spike shouts with glee. "I've been wanting to meet you for so long!"

"What do you mean by that? I thought that..." I scratch the back of my head.

"Twilight was telling me about what happened this morning. She made it sound like you were an amazing pony. But I didn't believe her that it was [i]you[/i] who did all of that stuff. I always thought you were just some scary creature from the Everfree Forest. I was kind of hoping that you'd be a Dragon." Spike laughs after he's finished.

"Sadly, I'm not. I'm a... I don't really know." I look away from the Spike after my answer.

"Hmm... Twilight should be able to help you out with that. She's the smartest Pony I know!" Spike shouts in confidence. "She was able to show everypony that I'm a friendly Dragon."

"Yeah... But do ponies hate you for being different..." I say quietly.

Spike looks at me, "no they don't hate me, but some are afraid of me. Because I'm a dragon, ponies are afraid that I might eat them one day. Some ponies are scared that I'm some monster. But I don't let that get to me because I know that I'm a good dragon on the inside, and that I would never do such a thing to anypony. Especially to..." I didn't quite catch the name of the pony he just said. But I feel that's none of my business.

I extend my hand down to Spike, "My name is Travis by the way. It's.. nice to meet you."

Spike, instead of shaking my hand, bumps it with his fist instead. "My name is Spike. Nice to meet you."

I can see a bit of myself in this kid. We both don't know where we come from, but he seems to be fine with that. I on the other hand am not. I will find out about my old life one day...


	5. Chapter 5: Conducting Experiments

I hear the voice of Twilight clear her voice behind me. It sounded a little impatient. I turn around and face Twilight with a look of confusion on my face. "So, Travis. You said it was alright if I were able to take notes on you?" Twilight has the biggest smile on her face right now. It's impossible to say "No" to a Pony that excited to learn.

"Y-Yeah, whatever you want." I adjust my posture so I can stand more comfortably. Twilight clops her hooves together in glee.

"This is so exciting!" she lets out an excited high-pitched noise. Twilight claps her hooves together twice and clears her throat. "Spike, I need my note taking supplies!" She shoots a look at her assistant.

"Yes ma'am" Spike salutes in response and runs back upstairs.

"I take it you're close?" I ask Twilight, referring to Spike with my hands.

"He's my number one assistant! As well as number one friend. I remember it like it was yesterday. Being able to hatch his egg with magic, all for a test if you can believe it?" Twilight is dosing off in her own memories.

"How long ago was that?" I ask out of curiosity.

"It was when I was just a little filly. That day was also the same day I got my cutie mark. Can you guess what it means?" Twilight rotates her hip to show me the mark on her purple fur. Her mark is a purple star, surrounded by smaller white stars. I'm not too sure what it represents. Maybe her love for studying? I take my best shot at her little challenge

"Umm... Does it mean you take your studies seriously?" My hopes are crushed when she shakes her head.

"Actually, it means that I have a gift in magic. By the way. Do you have a cutie mark?" Twilight walks around me, examining my body for any sign. Twilight uses her magic to attempt to lift op my shirt, but I pull it down faster and hold it.

"Trust me, I don't have one." My face is turning a little red. Twilight realizes that she got a little carried away and backs up a bit. Her face is turning red out of embarrassment.

"Oh, um... Sorry, I get a little into it sometimes" Twilight shoots me a sheepish grin. She really does seem like the kind of pony to get really invested in learning. Patters from upstairs are becoming louder, until Spike comes slowly down the stairs. He's carrying a pile of parchment in one claw, a glass of quills in the other, and he's balancing an ink vile on his nose. I'm just staring at him as he fumbles around the room, trying his hardest to keep his balance.

"Uh... need any help?" I ask the dragon in trouble.

"No, no... I think I got this" Spike grunts while make his way over to the table in the middle of the room. Spike perfectly throws all the items onto the table, and finishes by dusting his claws off in a satisfying way. I hear Twilight's horn using magic, and I'm suddenly swept into a chair that's pulled up from behind me. The back of my bag hits the chair.

"S-Slow down!" I shout due to the surprise, "At least let me get comfortable..." I slide my bag straps off, and carefully place it on the floor next to me. Parchment paper, and a quill are flying towards Twilight. She dips the quill into an ink bottle that's next to her and begins to scribble something down.

"Equestria's finest discovery! No..." Twilight crosses out that title from the top of her paper. "How about... 'The mystery of the strange creature'! Too long..." Twilight sticks her tongue out the side of her mouth as she thinks. Twilight crumples up the parchment, and throws it into a nearby trash bin. "I'll just come up with a title later." Twilight levitates a new parchment over to her, and begins to write down on it. "Let's start from the top. Name?"

"Um... Travis." I am a little confused why she's asking me this. She knows my name, maybe it's so that she can get every detail right.

"Age?" Twilight isn't looking away from her parchment while asking me questions.

"I just turned 18 about 2 days ago." I answer polity.

"Oh, a double hitter! Looks like we're being efficient." Twilight giggles to herself. Spike sits on the other side of the sofa that Twilight is sitting on. "April 14, 1995." Twilight quickly calculates, I can practically hear the mental gears winding in her head. Twilight stands up from her seat, and trots over to me. She looks into my eyes, "Stand up for a moment please?"

"Sure." I listen to her command, essentially being a living anatomy model. Twilight walks around me writing down physical aspects.

"Black mane, teal eyes." She says aloud. Twilight looks at my backside with a confused look on her face, "Would it be right to assume that you have a tale underneath your clothing?"

"No, I do not have a tale" I answer bluntly. I hear a scribble noise coming from behind me. I look over at Spike, he's tossing and turning in his seat getting a little impatient.

"Come on, Twilight. You're just writing down what he looks like. When are we getting to the good stuff?" Spike groans.

"Oh, Spike. I need to make sure that everything is perfect. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity." Twilight replies, not looking away from her notes.

"Good stuff?" I raise an eyebrow at Spike. He hops of his seat and makes crazy hand gestures as he speaks.

"Twilight was telling me that you can perform magic, but she wasn't sure if you had a horn or not. That sounds awesome!"

I let out a small chuckle, "No I don't have a horn. I'm not exactly sure how I can use magic, It's just an instinct for me. Twilight said she had a theory that I can learn more magic, considering I can use it."

"Speaking of which..." Twilight says while she quickly finishes writing down all that she needs, "I need you to follow me." Twilight begins to trot towards the stairs. I follow with a confused look on my face. Where is she taking me? As we both walk up the stairs, Spike starts to follow as he's also interested.

"Twilight, you're not taking him _there_ are you?" Spike asks with a groan. That's a little worrisome.

"Spike, there's nothing wrong with my lab. It's purely for advanced research." Twilight boasts with pride.

"You're lab?" I question. I'm starting to think that this lady's a madmare...

"That's right! I've slowly been building it up since I've moved here about two years ago. I only really use it for special occasions." Twilight answers, looking back at me while speaking. We walk along the slightly smaller second floor. I don't get that good of a look around before we descend down a new set of stairs. These stairs seem to be going on much further down, tree roots are attached to the dirt tunnel. Candles provide a slight light source, just enough to see where we're going down the spiral staircase. This is screaming all kinds of fishy... Twilight isn't trying to set me up right?

"U-Uh... It's pretty cozy here..." I nervously say. I shove my hands in my pockets. Twilight giggles at my sarcastic remark.

"This actually used to be a storage area. When I first moved here, this is where all of the extra supply went. But, I had Spike help me clear it out to free up space."

"More like I did all the heavy lifting..." Spike says quietly enough so I could hear it. A smirk grows on my face from that information. Once we reach the bottom of the stairs, a very worn down wooden door greats us. It has a very simple design to it, I expect that due to the likely hood of this room being used. Twilight uses her magic to push the door open, causing a loud creak.

"Well, welcome to my laboratory!" Twilight steps to the side and shows off the place in all its glory. The first thing I notice is the roots of the library being spread throughout the underground area. Roots are covering the walls and the floors. Instead of bookshelves being used, the roots are making a shape around an area that the books are being tucked into. I begin to explore a little, as I am curious of what this place holds. I walk down a small flight of stairs, and see a whole potion set up. Plenty of different beakers and ingredients spread across a wooden table, as well as a book propped up against a stand. I shouldn't go messing with that stuff, I'm not sure if it's important or not. The most eye catching things in the room are the multiple machines on the other side. There's a massive machine in the back, with pipes connecting all the way up to the top of the room. It could be something of an advanced heater? There are all kinds of parts on the machine as well, like a cylinder that has a sort of greenish, yellow liquid flowing through it.

"Hey, Twilight. What's in there?" I point towards the cylinder of liquid. Twilight and Spike come down the stairs to join me.

"Oh, that's just gasoline. It's for some of the appliances around the library, like the stove upstairs, as well as the heating so we don't freeze in the winter." Twilight replies. I see a metal cover on the side of the machine. This seems interesting. I walk up to the cover and examine it.

"So, what's this for. Is it another power source? Y'know, in case the the gasoline runs out?" I ask. Spike walks up to what I was referring to. He reaches up and hits the button next to it. The sound of objects flopping around is coming out from the inside of the lid.

"That's a washing machine." Spike says putting his hands on his hip.

"Oh..." I look over to see what Twilight's doing, and I see her setting up some sort of machine. This looks interesting. I walk over to examine it. There's some sort of helmet resting on the top of the metal box she's working on. The helmet has a strange design, there's a couple of wires coming out of the top of it. These wires are connecting to the box. "Uh... what is this?" Twilight looks up with a green wire in her mouth.

"It's a machine that can detect different types of energy, by printing out a graph from a dispenser. I can adjust the machine to get a better reading." the cable in Twilight's mouth muffled most of her speech. I clear my throat and gesture my head to her mouth. Twilight moves her eyes down to her mouth. She spits the cable out of her mouth, her cheeks turning red in the process, "What I said was..." Twilight started to walk around her machine, "This machine is meant to measure energy. You just need to put on that helmet, and follow my steps. During the process, the machine will be graphing down your information on some paper. The higher the graph is, the higher your natural energy is." All this information is going over my head, but I'll just role with it.

"So, all I have to do is wear that weird helmet?" I cross my arms.

"Pretty much, Travis. I'll do the rest from their."

Seems easy enough. I walk over to the helmet, and hold it in my hands. I look over the cold bowl like object. There are lights flashing on and off. This better not bite me in the butt. "It's safe right?" the last thing I want is to fry my brain with this thing.

"I promise you, It's not dangerous at all." Twilight says, looking into my eyes. I'm pretty sure she's telling the truth. I'll go with my gut feeling on this one...

"Alright." I say placing the helmet on my head. It's got plenty of left over room, as it is designed for their head size instead of mine.

"I'll just need to adjust a few things on the helmet to get the proper scan..." Twilight trots up and uses her magic to change some dials. At least I think they're dials, as the audible clicks are ringing in the inside of the helmet. "I think that's good now" Twilight walks over to the machine and looks over to me. "I just need you to do what I say when this machine is on, alright?" That sounds easy enough. I give Twilight a nod in response. She begins to adjust some dials and flip a switch on the machine. Spike runs up to a glass screen, anxiously waiting for something to happen. Twilight flips the last switch, and the screen lights up with a green line just going across it in a flat way. We all stand still in silence for a few seconds, just watching the continues straight line travel horizontally across the screen.

"That's it?!" Spike complains, almost like he was ripped off.

"A straight line? What does that mean?" I ask. Isn't this thing supposed to measure my magic? Why isn't anything showing up? Twilight seems lost in thought, trying to come up with an explanation on what's happening.

"Maybe it's on the wrong setting." Twilight runs back behind the machine to check what she has her machine set to. "That's strange... It's set to everything that is needed to measure magic." Twilight flips another switch, with an audible click. It sounds like a printer was turned on. Spike quickly moves a basket right below a slot on the machine. A long sheet of paper is being printed out, the same line from the screen is drawn across the middle of the paper. This seems like the graph of information Twilight was talking about. "Spike, how does it look?" Twilight looks around the corner from where she is standing. Spike starts to scan the paper with his eyes, trying to catch any oddities.

"It's the same as the screen." Spike says scratching the top of his head.

"Um... is that bad?" I ask a little worried.

"This means that no magic is detected." Twilight says looking over the graph with Spike. No magic? That makes no sense. "Travis, let me see that helmet for a second." Twilight uses her magic to lift it off of my head, and proceeds to place it on her's. The machine begins to make blip noises, and starts to scribble on the new graph paper that's exiting. "That's what's supposed to happen for you..." Twilight brings her hoof to her chin and begins to think. Spike looks over at me.

"Does that mean you actually can't use magic?" Spike looks a little disappointed.

"But I really can. Check this out!" I inhale a deep breath and exhale. I close my eyes and begin to concentration. I just need to focus on having my magic emit from my hands, and it will happen. It's a little harder than last night, as my body still is sore from the experience. But I think I'll be able to manage it

"Woah! That's so cool!" Spikes voice causes me to open my eyes, and see the teal glow covering my hands. "What spells can you do? Something awesome? Can you teleport?" Spike runs up to me with a huge smile on his face. Time to blow him away.

"Alright, I'll give you something special." I say. I pull back my right arm, and thrust it towards Spike, opening my hand in the just before I reach the full length. A gust of hair shoots at Spike, I didn't take in count his much lighter mass... Spike is thrown across the laboratory. Spike lets out a yell as he's thrown across the room, before hitting one of the root wrapped bookshelves. Spike slumps to the ground, as well as a pile of books falling off of the shelf, landing on him. I cringe at the sight.

"You okay?" I shout at Spike. The top of head pokes out of the pile, and he shakes his head a few times to snap himself back into reality.

"You'd be surprised if I told you what I've needed to go through. This was nothing." Spike dusts himself off as he stands up.

"Let me help you clean up." I offer to Spike. Before I can do anything else, Twilight pulls me back to the work area with her magic.

"I've got an idea!" Twilight shouts. She slams the helmet back on my head, "Don't turn off your magic yet!" Before I can say anything Twilight runs over to the machine to check it out. There's a small reading on the machine now and a weak blip noise, "Just as I thought." Twilight says proudly. What does she mean by that?

"Can you slow down for a second! What's going on?" I turn my magic off, and the machine is unable to read the energy again.

"Travis, use your magic again!" Twilight says excitedly. I follow her instructions and I begin to make my hands glow once more. Readings on the machine are starting to pop up again. They're the same as the last ones, not too much of a reading but it's still there. "Alright, off again." I turn my magic off and we get the flat line once more. At this point, Spike runs over to check out the results.

"Woah, is that supposed to happen?" Spike asks Twilight.

"Usually, this machine is supposed to track your peak and minimum for any kind of energy. In this case for magic, it seems to not recognize that Travis has magic inside of him when he's not using it. When Travis is using magic, it does detect it, but it's not the greatest signal. I assume it's because Travis doesn't use his magic much, so it's not at it's maximum potential right now." Twilight shuts off the machine, and grabs the graph paper, and begins to showing it to us. "You see the strait line represents that no energy is being detected." Twilight moves the paper to the readings from my magic. "But when Travis uses his magic, it seems like it comes out of nowhere. Think of it like a sudden reaction he uses it, like combining a highly reactive ingredient with another one to create a chemical reaction." Spike and I look at each other with a confused look on our faces. "In simpler terms... Travis's magic seems to not be something his species isn't innately supposed to do."

This catches me off guard, "So you're saying that I'm not supposed to be able to perform magic. That it's just an accident?"

"I'm not saying that necessarily. I'm just trying to say that there is something wrong with your magic. Something about it isn't natural. Look here." Twilight moves the graph up to the point when she was wearing the helmet. There's a pattern going across it. The readings are more apparent than mine for sure, I'm not surprised because she uses her magic all of the time. "Even when I'm not using my magic, the machine is still picking up readings. It doesn't see anything when you're not. It treats it as there is no magic..." This is some information... That can't be true, right? My magic isn't natural. I'm a bigger freak than I already am?

"I-I um... I don't know what to say..." I'm at a lost for words.

"This is a miracle!" Twilight says. What? what does she mean by that?

"W-what?" I say.

"You have a gift, Travis. This is something you have to embrace!" Twilight shouts. "You're not a unicorn, but you can perform magic. You have something special about you, and in my opinion you should try to make something out of it." Twilight is encouraging me to look more into my magical ability. Twilight thinks for a second, "How about we make a regular meeting time for this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I said I'd help you with magic as a thank you for helping me. I want it to be set in stone! Give you some personal lessons." I think about the offer. This could be a great chance to get used to being around Twilight. I do feel a slight connection forming between us...

"Deal." I nod my head at her. This could be the start of something good. I just hope I don't blow this...

We all return to the Library floor so we can have casual discussions on when I should go for my lessons. It was decided that I should come anytime I'm up for it, as long as it's passed 3:00 pm. The time flies as we were hanging out with each other. Spike fell asleep on the couch while Twilight and I were talking. Twilight let's out a little laugh, "Spike goes to bed early, he is only a baby dragon after all." This seems like my time to leave anyway.

"Well, thank you for taking me out. You were right, I did end up enjoying this more than cleaning my house all day." I thank Twilight while I make sure I have everything in my bag. I check my pocket watch to see that it's just after 9:00 pm

"You're sure you'll be able to find your way back yourself?" Twilight asks.

"Yeah, It'll be easier as everypony should be getting to bed at this point." I plug my earphones into my portable cassette player.

"You know, this town isn't all that bad with their ponies. They're really nice when you get to know them."

"I'm sure some of them are, I'll just have to get to know them if I want them to like me." I throw my bag over my shoulder. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"Goodnight, Travis." Twilight says to me, while I wave goodbye to her. I'm pretty sure that they still wont like me that much... It's always the same, but I should at least stay on Twilight's good side if I'm going to be living in this town for a year. The town is deserted, nopony is out at this time. It's both eerie as well as relaxing for me. I'm playing my music loudly in my ears to keep me detracted from how long the walk back home will take. Hopefully it wont take too long.

While I'm walking through town I see a black blur rush across the road. I couldn't get a good look at it, but this only spells trouble. I take my earphones off, and call out "Hello?" But I don't get a response. Who would be out this late, everypony should be sleeping. I shouldn't be too loud just in case I wake anypony up. I shove my hands in my pockets and look around to see where that blur went. It's a little too dark for me to see anything, so I speed up my walking pace to try to get back home as soon as possible. Another gust of air blows past my back. I whip around to see what the hell that was. Once again, there's nothing. This is getting a little freaky...

"Haiya!" A high pitch voice shouts behind me, this causes me to almost leap out of my shoes, and fall on my back.

"Holy shit!" I hell as I fall back. The figure standing in front of me is a bright pink pony, with hot pink mane. She has a baby blue eye colour, as well as an incredibly curly main and tale. The mare lets out a loud gasp.

"Ponies shouldn't say those kinds of words you know. They're very bad." The pink pony says in a somewhat scolding tone. I just stare at her for a second.

"Yeah, right... Sorry. You just startled me..." I scratch the back of my head before standing up. The mare giggles.

"It's alright, silly. Everypony makes mistakes!" The mare is jumping up and down.

"What are you doing out here so late?"

"Actually, I was looking for you! My Pinkie senses were telling me that a new pony moved into town today, and I wanted to greet you on your first day! You're a little funny looking though, but I don't mind!" The mare isn't keeping her voice down, she might wake everypony up. I try to shush her while she's speaking. "Oh, are you trying to play the quiet game? I'm the best at the quiet game!" The mare takes in a massive deep breath, and shuts her mouth tight. What's with her?

"No, just whisper. And I'm sorry, did you say Pinkie senses? You're name wouldn't happen to be Pinkie Pie, would it?" I ask in a whisper. The mare nods her head. Pinkie Pie lets all the air out of her mouth and begins to talk in a sort of loud whisper.

"Oh, how'd you know! Is this the name game? Let me guess, you'reeeee... Fabeo!"

"No."

"Bobby?"

"No."

"Timmy?"

"Travis." I answer. Pinkie Pie lets out a groan.

"I was so close! Tell me, how'd you know my name? Are my Pinkie Pie Perfect Popular Parties that famous?!" Pinkie leans in on every P she says.

"Actually, it's because you're the Element of Laughter."

"Oh, that's it. A little silly if you ask me."

"If you don't mind me, I was going to get going now..." Pinkie Pie is bouncing next to me.

"So, Travis. Where are you from? Where do you live? How old are you? What was life back at home?" Pinkie Pie asks plenty of questions fast. I only really catch the first one.

"Well, I just moved here from Manehattan last night, today was my first day in town. I was with Twilight Sparkle."

"You know Twily?" Pinkie gasps. "She's like, my bestest, best, best friend!"

"Yeah, she took me out today, we hung out for a bit. We're starting to get to know each other, but she's not much more than an acquaintance." I answer her question.

"If Twily's not your best friend. Then who is?"

"I don't really have any friends." I say quietly. Pinkie Pie is quiet for a few seconds.

"You do now!" Pinkie jumps in front of me.

"Pardon me?"

"I'm going to be your bestest, best, best, best, best friend!" Pinkie Pie shouts excitedly. This is confusing me...

"Huh, why?"

"Because I, Pinkamena Diane Pie is friends with everypony, no matter the shape or size!" Pinkie shouts proudly. I cover her mouth quickly before she can finish her sentence. She's too damn loud!

"Look. If I say we're friends, will you please be quiet?" Pinkie nods her head while my hand is still on her mouth. "Alright, friend..." I move my hand from Pinkie's mouth. Her smile grows to an impossible curve. Her baby blue eyes twinkling. Pinkie lets out a gasp.

"There's something I forgot to do! Bye Travis, see you tomorrow!" She shouts, before zooming off into the unknown at a breakneck speed. I wave slowly and confusedly at her departure. She's really something, that's for sure...


	6. Chapter 6: Spending Time With The Dragon

I collapse face first onto my mattress, the recoil of the springs squeak lightly. I didn't do much today, besides spending some time with Twilight, yet I'm exhausted. I got so absorbed up in our conversation that I forgot that I wanted to do my spring cleaning at some point. Twilight did tell me that she's only free after a certain time, so I may just spend my morning tomorrow just trying to clean this place to the best of my ability.

I smother my face into my pillow and let out a sigh. I can't shake the thought of what Twilight was talking about earlier. My magic is off when compared to a Unicorns magic. Of course, it's different! I can't just have something go my way for once. right? I turn my body towards the ceiling and stare at the web covered supports that are going across the roof. I raise my hand above my face, looking deep into my palm.

"There has to be an explanation for this," I whisper while my hand begins to glow a light teal colour. The waves of magic flowing up to a few inches from my fingertips before evaporating into nothing. the room lights up with the teal colouring from my magic. I close my fists causing the magic to stop completely, making the room drop back down to darkness.

I'm still on edge about this whole deal I have with Twilight. She seems nice from what I was able to get from her, but I'm unsure whether or not that's just a show she's putting on to get what she wants. Twilight is the Element of Magic, that should count for something. At the same time though, Rainbow Dash was a bit of an ass for even just helping her... I let out a massive yawn. I'll think about this tomorrow, I'm too tired at the moment anyway...

The early morning sunlight shines through my window, directly onto my face. The warm heat causes me to wake up. My eyes slowly flutter open. I sit up and let out a long yawn, stretching my arms and arching my back slightly. I hear the sounds of my bones popping from being stretched. This has been the most peaceful sleep I've had in a really long time. Usually, it would be loud in the streets of Manehattan at night. Ponies would be out and about at any time. It's probably because they have to work night shifts at their jobs.

I get off of my bed and open my suitcase that I left right beside my bed. My assortment of clothes are neatly folded, so I can fit as many as I can for the trip. I don't have too many different kinds of clothing styles because I had to get them custom-made to fit my body. No store sells anything that would fit me, so it got a little pricey trying to get somepony to tailor me things to wear. I don't remember who exactly made everything, but I'm pretty sure they're happy with the payment. There aren't any fancy designs on any of my clothing, not just to save some bits. But it's because I also don't really like anything flashy. I quickly get dressed in some casual clothing. Nothing too special, just a grey shirt and dark blue jeans.

Now's probably a good time to get to cleaning up the house...

"Maybe if I get lucky, Twilight will be at my door." I sigh in disappointment. I know I'm not going to get out of this chore, might as well stop delaying the inevitable. The first order of business should be to put my clothes in a more accessible place, the last thing I want is to constantly dig around for everything. My gaze shifts over to the dresser that's by the nightstand. It's nothing too crazy, four rows each having one medium-sized drawer. Each of the drawers has a plastic nob in the middle so it can be easily opened.

I slowly walk towards the dresser. I'm not sure if any spiders set up shop inside any of the drawers over the years of this house being empty. I slowly and carefully pull open the drawer and take a peek inside. There's actually nothing in there? Finally, a little bit of luck comes my way. I proceed to check inside the other three drawers and come to the conclusions the spiders have yet to invade the area. All that really needs to be done is some dusting on the inside if I want to keep my clothes in there. Maybe grandpa left some stuff around the house?

I leave my room and begin my search for the cleaning supplies. I should probably look inside the washroom first. The washroom is the only other room on this floor if I'm remembering correctly. This place is still pretty new to me, I haven't really looked around because I've been too tired every time I get home. I open the door that's just down the hallway from my bedroom. Just as I remember, it's the washroom. Now that it's no longer nighttime, I get a much better look at what there is to offer. The glossy tiles on the floor run in a checkerboard pattern. Where the colour black would be are replaced with dark blue tiles. The bathtub is on the other side of the cramped room, it's the perfect size for a pony. So, naturally, I'll be struggling with the smaller length. This was also a problem back in Manehatten, taking showers was a bit annoying because I would just move the showing head around in one of my hands to spray myself with the water.

I kneel down so I can open up the sink cupboard that's to my right, but there's nothing inside except for the drainage pipe. I scratch the back of my head as I stand back up. If I'm being honest, I'm not really surprised if grandpa did end up taking everything with him when he moved away. I'll just give a quick search around the rest of the house to see if I did miss anything...

I close the final cupboard in disappointment, it's now confirmed that everything is gone. I let out a sigh knowing that I have to go into town to buy some cleaning supplies, as well as basic stuff that any house should have. Do I even have enough bits on me for that? I know I do have some money in my bag, but definitely not enough to last me a whole year here. I take a seat on the couch in the living room. I cross my leg over the other, place my hands behind my head, and look into the ceiling. I know I need to get myself a job soon.

But, what exactly would I be able to do that other ponies can't? I'm not what one would refer to as "Strong" so any earth pony could easily outclass me there, that scratches off anything that involves heavy lifting... My magic isn't strong enough to do anything that a properly trained Unicorn can do. I'd probably end up dropping the ball an anything that would require advanced magic... I could never do anything a Pegasus could do, I can't fly so that's out of the question. I shouldn't be thinking about this right now, I've got some more important stuff to do.

I stand up from the couch and make my way upstairs to grab my bag. The only thing that's worrying me is where to find anything in town. I'm not exactly the most comfortable person around strangers, so asking for directions will be a pain in the ass. I'm not sure if it would be too much of a bother to ask Twilight... If she really is trying to be nice to me, I guess that could be a sort of test, even though it's really just a test of politeness when I think about it. I sling one of my backpack straps over one shoulder and leave my place.

I plug my headphones into my cassette player and fast forward the tape that's inside to get to some more relaxing music. I settle on a song that has a good soothing beat to it and turn up the volume to drown out any outside noises. I make sure to move the hair that's covering my ears aside so I don't block the speakers while I'm listening to music. I place my hands inside my pockets while I walk down the dirt path to Ponyville. I should probably know what I need to get before I go into town, just so I don't need to be there longer than I need to. I think I'm going to need some sort of feather duster, washcloth, some stuff to keep inside that bathroom cupboard in case of emergencies, and a mop with a mop bucket. That's probably not everything, but that's all I can think of at the moment. After all, I can still head back another time if needed.

I make my way to the bridge that's just outside of town and stop. This bridge is sort of like a border for the town. I'm not feeling too good about going into town by myself... I can see the citizens doing their own things from where I'm standing. Little fillies running around with their friends, adults are working stands that are selling town goods, and there are just the passerby's that are probably just buying some things for their own places. I'm not sure if any of these stands are going to be selling what I need and I would rather not waste too much time by asking every single one. Maybe I should just go to Twilights' place and ask for some help, I mean, I wouldn't be bothering her just for asking for directions. I'm also not too keen on the idea of asking any of the ponies I don't know, they might not like the idea of talking to an unknown creature...

I cross the bridge and awkwardly walk through town. I turn up my music to the point where the chatter around me is completely muted. I can't help but to shift my eyes left and right to see what the other ponies are doing. They don't seem to be paying much attention to me surprisingly. I've been getting a few quick glances at most, then they seem to turn their attention back to what they were doing before. Maybe just by looking like I was friends with Twilight it boosted my reputation a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if they're still weirded out by me. Spike said to me that there are still ponies that think he's going to grow up to become a ferocious dragon, so I don't know if there's a rumour about me becoming anything.

I arrive at Twilight's library or "Golden Oak Library" as it is officially called. Should I just walk in? It's a public library after all, but at the same time, it's somepony's home... I raise my hand up to the door and clench it into a fist, I give the door a few quick knocks and wait. I hear some rustling around from the inside before the door flings open. Spike is there to greet me at the door.

"Hey, Travis. How are you doing?" Spike asks me while he adjusts his posture to get more comfortable.

"I know I'm a few hours early, but I need to ask Twilight something if she isn't too busy," I ask while scratching the back of my head.

Spike crosses his arms, "Actually, she went out with Pinkie Pie. Twilight told me she was helping her out with something," Just my luck, huh?

"Oh... Pinkie Pie, huh?" the disappointment leaks out of my mouth.

Spike raises an eyebrow, "I take it that you've met her?"

I nod my head, "Yeah. She's nice, don't get me wrong. Just a little..." I pinch two my index and thumb in front of my face to emphasise the point.

"Energetic?"

"That's one way of putting it..." I say, thinking about the events that happened last night when she almost woke up the entire town with her screaming, "Anyway, since Twilight's not here, I won't bother you." I turn around and begin to walk away before hearing Spike call out to me.

"Wait! You know you can ask me whatever you wanted to ask Twilight, after all, I am her number one assistant." Spike gives me a thumbs up with a wink, "As long as it has nothing to do with magic... I'm not exactly going to be useful in that area." Spike's own pride deflates slightly by his own words.

"Are you sure? I don't want to interrupt you from whatever you were doing before." I tell Spike, I'm pretty sure somepony his age wouldn't care about cleaning a house.

"I insist!" Spike reassures me, "I would just be sitting around reading comic books all day anyway."

"If you insist. I'm actually looking for a store that sells cleaning supplies. You see, the house I'm staying in is actually pretty rundown. It's covered in dust and spiderwebs and I really need to get that crap cleaned out so I can live comfortably."

"Is that really all you wanted to ask?" Spike laughs.

"Pardon me?"

"I can easily help out with that kind of stuff, I've always been helping Twilight with organizing and cleaning while she studies. It's your lucky day, Travis. I'll show you around. I'll even help you with your house if you want?" Spike points his finger at me in triumph. Wait, how could a dragon also be the equivalent to a housemaid? This guy never ceases to surprise me.

"Yeah, that'd be great!" I thank Spike. In response, Spike gives me a thumbs up.

Over the next hour, Spike showed me around the area. Told me the best places to look for deals and such, but eventually, we managed to get all that we needed to clean up the place. Actually, it was really what Spike recommended, I just listened along because he's the expert right now. We got a mop with a mop bucket, some washcloths, a couple of different sprays to get rid of the bugs, a few different kinds cleaning solutions, and some stuff for my washroom cabinet. We are now making our way back to my house, but the thought of the townspeople are still in my mind.

I look over at Spike, who's dragging the mop bucket behind him as he walks, "Hey, Spike. Did the other ponies today seem quiet?

Spike turns his head and cocks it slightly to the left, "What do you mean by quiet?"

"I mean... They weren't saying anything bad about us. You said that some ponies are afraid of what you'll turn into, right?"

"Yeah, I did say that, but the ponies that are afraid of me are a small amount. Most of them do know that I'm a nice dragon and I'll never do a thing to harm them on purpose. This rumour only really started a few months ago after an incident..." Spike looks towards the ground as he walks, "It was my birthday not too long ago and ponies were giving me gifts to be nice, but my dragon instinct of greed began to grow... The more I was able to get my claws on, the more of a jerk I became... It got to the point where I almost hurt one of my friends..." I can hear the sad tone in his voice. It's obvious that he regrets what happened that day and hopefully, he will be able to move past it. I can't find the right words to say to Spike right now and the last thing I want is to make him upset by accident. What should I say to him? I see my house not too far from where we are. It might be best to just avoid this right now until I get to know Spike a bit better.

"A-Anyway, here's my house!" I point my finger towards the rundown shack. Spike stops and turns his head. The expression on his face turns from sadness to curiosity.

"Umm..." Spike is at a lost for words, I'm not sure if it's because he's impressed or disgusted, "It's an absolute mess." He states while crossing his arms. Spike isn't wrong, the outside walling will need some patching up someday because of the visible cracks. I don't even want to imagine what the roof is going to look like with all the trees that are surrounding the house, "And how long have you been staying in this place?" Spike turns to me.

"I only arrived here two nights ago and I've been a little to distracted to fix up the place." I attempt to defend myself.

Spike lets out a sigh and begins to walk towards the house, "Well this is going to take a while..."

Over the course of a few hours, Spike and I were attempting to clean out all of the dust and webs that were built up over the years. Spike made sure to teach me the best way to use a mop "Go in a figure eight pattern" He told me. He's the master here, so I make sure to listen to all he had to say.

I'm moping the floor to the best of my abilities, making sure to get every spot clean. The house is looking better already, we even managed to get most of the spiders out with the bug spray. Most of the webbing is still covering the counters, but Spike is trying to get it washed off. I hear him call me from the kitchen, "Man, this is taking forever! Spike complains, throwing his claws up into the air.

"You're the one who offered to help, you can leave anytime you want," I speak back without taking my gaze off of my task.

"Well, I thought that this was going to be a much smaller house because you're living on your own. But I'll stay and help because I'm such a nice guy after all,"I catch on to his joking tone and chuckle to myself, "Who'd you buy this place off of anyway? Because you got totally ripped off."

I place the mop back inside the bucket to get it wet, "Actually, I didn't pay for this place. It was my foster grandpa's place. He lived in this place around fifteen years ago, but he moved out because his job at the time had him transferred over to Manehatten. Grandpa still owns the place, so for my birthday, he gave me a chance to live here for a year," I continue to mop the floor around me, "It's also nice because there aren't any ponies around this area. I can finally have some peace and quiet at night."

I hear the spray can go off while Spike is speaking to me, "Well, one of my friends lives in this area too. Her name's Fluttershy," Does Spike mean the same Fluttershy I'm thinking of?

"You mean the 'Element of Kindness' Fluttershy?" I stop what I'm doing and look over at Spike.

"Yeah, that's the one," Spike looks at me while he rinses the washcloth he's holding, "Are you a fan of the Elements of Harmony or something?"

"I sort of am, actually. Back in Manehatten, that's all I would hear about on the radio. When I was being homeschooled, grandpa would tell me about them, how they saved Princess Luna and stopped Discord from taking over the world last year."

"You were homeschooled?" Spike asked out of curiosity,

"Yeah, I was. Grandpa didn't want to enrol me into public school because of the way the other kids would make fun of me for being weird looking. So he just ended up keeping me at home and attempted to teach me the things that regular schools would. I didn't really learn any complex math or science, but he did teach me a lot about the history of Equestria as it was the easiest to teach. I ended up spending a lot of time inside and not going out that much, that's probably why rumours were spread about me. I can see why. Some mysterious creature living in your town that spends most of their time alone, that's sure to get somepony worried," I try to play it out in a joking way to make it seem better than it was.

Spike walks up to me, "Well, Ponyville is one of the nicest places in Equestria! They welcome ponies of all shapes and sizes with open hooves, after what happened with assuming things about Zecora."

"Who's Zecora?" I ask.

"She's a zebra that lives in the Everfree forest. When she would come into Ponyville, we used to hide from her because she was from the Everfree forest. We thought that she cursed us this one time, but it turned out to be the opposite, we learned our lesson that day..." Spike scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. She lives in the Everfree forest? That's one of the most dangerous parts of Equestria from what grandpa has told me, it's also where he found me... Maybe Zecora knows something about what kind of creature I am?

"What does Zecora do in the Everfree forest? That place is dangerous from what I've heard."

Usually, she does her own thing, but her hut is filled with all of this weird potion making stuff. Also, the forest isn't that bad during the day, you just need to be careful while you're in there." Spike responds confidently.

If what Spike says is true about the Everfree forest being safe during the day, I should go find Zecora's place and ask her some questions. But, that'll have to wait until morning as the sun is setting off in the distance. I should help Spike get back to the library safely, he did help me out all day after all...


End file.
